Having quite a number of weddings under my belt, comes with lessons learnt from mistakes I’ve made in the past. It’s like anything really, when you are starting out in something new, the ole confidence isn’t quite up to scratch whilst in that learning phase, as you have to make the mistakes first before you can understand and move on. The reality means not having a lot of control with your wedding clients.
Having a Photographer / Videographer is vital to capture the essence of your awesome day. It simply becomes one timeless event, and it’s all about ensuring you have that memory locked in for a lifetime. A visual documentation will justify everything for you, as you can share this event for generations to come.
I just want to put into perspective a few things to think (from a photographic point of view) about when you’re planning your wedding day... Please don’t feel this is going to create more work for you, it simply won’t. It’s more to help you understand the importance of the timing and imagery required on the day.
Before we go further into this, I just want to share a past experience back in my early days as a Wedding Photographer...
I studied Photography when I lived in Melbourne back in the late noughties early 2010’s. I gained a lot of experience with a Jewish Wedding Photographer as my mentor for a number of months before venturing out on my own. Whilst building my Wedding portfolio in Melbourne, there was one wedding in particular that really stood out to me. We are probably talking about 10 years ago here. I shot a lovely Lebanese couple. They were quite a traditional and conservative couple who wanted the whole cliche’ wedding experience and normally with Lebanese couples come with BIG families! They had over 300 guests invited. I thought I can’t do this all on my own, so I organised my little bro Chas to fly over from Tasmania to become my second shooter (he’s a Wedding Photographer / Picture Framer in Tassie). Thank goodness I did that, because here’s a little story on how this all unfolded...
That Saturday morning of the Wedding, I was at the bride's place where they were all getting ready at 9:00am in suburban Melbourne. Chas went to the groom's place, whilst I looked after the brides and bridesmaids.
As it was a tight schedule, I had no choice but to only shoot the bride and her family as the groom was a good 45 minutes away (thanks goodness for Chas). Also on a Saturday morning in Melbourne, it’s bloody hectic with traffic! Everyone is out and about!
Anyway little did I know about how many people were going to rock up to the bride's house! I’m not joking, but I would say there were a good 50-60 people arriving to see the bride getting ready! So I was frantically running around trying to get candid shots, before moving onto family. Well the family shots kind of took over for the majority of the time and it really got out of control. It got to the point where I felt I was just simply pointing and shooting my camera for a good hour! No time for creativity! Like Santa photos in the Shopping Centre on Christmas eve! It was SO busy.
Before I knew it, I checked my watch and it was time to fly to the church! I literally arrived at the church the same time as the bride! Can you believe that?! No time to get any additional shots before the bridal party arrived. Lucky Chas was there well before I arrived as he managed to fill a few gaps for me. I have to add it was 27’ that day and even though that doesn’t sound that hot, the humidity was intense and yes I was in my super, skinny, tight, stovepipe black jeans! I was sweating profusely! You can only imagine how uncomfortable that must have felt!
It was a long service in the church whilst catching the ceremony. After the ceremony finished, we all went down to Fitzroy Gardens to get some couple, family and bridal party shots. It was hectic as we had to drive for about 30 minutes before we got there. After we did Fitzroy Gardens, we went over the river and headed to Crown Casino to get some shots inside and out of the building before moving onto the Reception in the city. It all sounds like smooth sailing, but it really wasn’t. I was chasing my tail all day, feeling like I had little control. As I was so stretched with time, I felt from a creative point of view that I failed. I was shooting a lot and hoping for the best and not allowing myself the time to think about my light and composition.
Moving onto the Reception that night, at the Grand Hyatt on Collins Street. The never ending Reception! I think we got there about 6pm and didn’t leave the building until 1:00am! 300 guests and a whole lotta dancing! It was crazy! Don’t get me wrong it was a great wedding, but I seriously got dragged under the bus all day! A 16 hour day because I did not have any control of my day!
So, I hope you’re still with me. I gave you that story because I want you to understand sometimes you just cannot do everything you want to on the day with locations. You have to be realistic about time. You have a lot of vendors you need to fit into your schedule and having multiple locations to go too for photo shoots can be way too much. For both you and the Photographer. I suggest you get ready close to the ceremony, so you don’t have to travel far. This will give you more time to enjoy getting ready with your bridal party. I know you’re both going to feel a little nervous on the day, which is totally natural, but if you can reduce your stress somewhat, just focus on close proximity.
If for some reason you have a fair bit of travel time to get to the Ceremony, ensure you give yourselves plenty of time to get there (I know it’s easier said than done). Even if you are a little late, that is better than being really late. We have to be realistic here as the timetable for the day is just a guide to ensure that everything flows fairly smoothly.
Remember after your ceremony, there will be loads of hugs with your family and friends. I would aim to have this settled within 15 minutes, so you can quickly focus on getting some family shots all together. I would allow 15 minutes to get family shots. You shouldn’t need any more than that (unless you have over 300 guests)! They are quick and easy. No need to stress about this one. With past clients, I’ve always tried to get them to organise someone to help coordinate families together on the day. It rarely works as everyone is so caught up in the moment and rightly so! I still talk to the bride and groom about family photos prior to your big day, I just don’t put a lot of emphasis on them as they are quick and easy once you get everyone together! I find that if I ask someone (either bride or groom or family member) at the time, it tends to work a lot more efficiently. In the past, I’d be running around looking for the person who was in charge of organising this, and could never find them quickly enough to organise the family photos!
Next I would allow an hour to go off and capture some gorgeous shots of the two of you. You want to either have these shots taken at the same location, or just down the road, so you can be back in time for your Reception. Obviously you may be a few minutes late, but everyone expects that with the bride and groom. A lot of couples try and have their weddings all in the one location (getting ready, ceremony, location shots and reception). It works very well and it reduces the stress on everyone. Otherwise try and aim for close proximity. Be guided by your photographer as everyone’s situation is different.
So here’s a very simple list to think about around your photography on the day (this is all you need):
● Getting ready shots with both bride and groom
● Shots of friends and family arriving for the ceremony
● Family shots
● Bride and groom shots in a beautiful setting
If you had a couple session (of which I highly recommend), you’ll feel you don’t need to go to other locations to get more shots. Your photographer is here to guide you from the moment you book with them. Trust and have confidence in your photographer. They have the experience under their belt and will guide you through your schedule. Remember so many vendors will tie into your photography on the day. The photographer will also tie into the many vendors on the day. You're talking about lots of experience here, trust your vendors, they are all here to help you both! You don’t need any added pressure, so remember less is more with your images on the day.
